The
international parliamentary network «United for Ukraine» (U4U) confirmed that
support for Ukraine will be continued until its sovereignty and territorial
integrity are fully restored and reconstruction is complete. russia must be
held accountable for its crimes of aggression.
It was
stated in a joint statement adopted following a meeting held in Verkhovna Rada
with a delegation of parliamentarians from EU and NATO countries, the European
Parliament and the Council of Europe.
Ruslan
Stefanchuk, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, thanked his
colleagues for their clear stance of solidarity with Ukraine and unwavering
support of our struggle.
During
the meeting, the following issues were discussed: further steps for achieving
just and long-lasting peace, tightening sanctions pressure on russia,
strengthening defence capabilities of Ukraine, and progress towards EU membership.
«The
unity of the parliaments of the democratic world is a crucial component of our
common safety. We are working together to ensure that the peace is fair and
long-lasting,» emphasised Ruslan Stefanchuk.
United
for Ukraine
Statement
24
February 2026
We, the
representatives of the United4Ukraine global parliamentary network,
representing Foreign, European Affairs, Defense Committees of the Parliaments
of the EU & NATO members states, as well as of the European Parliament and
the Council of Europe, upon paying solidarity visit to Ukraine on 24 February
2026 as a sign of our unwavering commitment to supporting Ukraine and its
people, made the following statement:
- Today, when
Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine is entering its 5th
year, we express our strongest solidarity with Ukraine and its people, as
well as our unwavering commitment to stand by them until Ukraine restores
its full sovereignty and territorial integrity and Russia, the aggressor,
is brought to justice. We pay tribute to all the defenders of Ukraine for
their courage and sacrifice in defending not just their own Homeland, the
security architecture of Europe and the credibility of the international
rules-based order founded on the UN Charter. We honour the memory of those
who have fallen, and we recognise that their sacrifice demands not
sympathy, but action – concrete, sustained, and decisive.
- Our countries,
parliaments, and citizens, have been standing with Ukraine and its people
since the very beginning of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine in 2014,
and especially so – since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of
Ukraine by Russia on 24 February 2022. We have been among the strongest
supporters of Ukraine in political, military, diplomatic and humanitarian
domains. This support must remain predictable, long-term and strategically
aligned with Ukraine’s victory objectives. We remain committed to continue
increasing support for Ukraine so that it has everything that is needed to
defend its own and our shared future.
- While welcoming
the EUs agreement on 90 billion euros support, which provides a short-term
comfort in terms of financing Ukraine’s needs, we also urge our
parliaments and governments to find ways to use Russia’s frozen assets so
that Ukraine has sufficient resources needed for its defence and recovery
in medium to long term, and the aggressor Russia is aware of that,
realising that its hope to wear us out is futile.
- We support the
efforts by the US, Ukraine and European nations to put an end to Russia’s
war of aggression against Ukraine and to achieve just and lasting peace.
Peace negotiations must proceed from the basic principal that Russia is
the aggressor, and Ukraine is the victim of unprovoked invasion. Any
settlement that legitimises territorial conquest or rewards military
aggression would establish a precedent that no nation’s borders are
secure, guaranteeing future conflicts across Europe and beyond. At the
same time, we deplore Russia’s continued attempts to disrupt peace process
by intensified massive attacks against Ukraine and its critical energy
infrastructure and repetition of its ultimatums that go against the
international law and its principles. Russia’s demands for Ukraine’s
disarmament, territorial concessions, and neutrality are incompatible with
sovereignty and amount to capitulation, not
negotiation.
- Future peace
solution must be in full compliance with international law and its
principles, including respect to Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and
territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders of
1991. This includes Crimea and Sevastopol, illegally annexed in 2014, and
all territories in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts
occupied since 24 February 2022. There can be no compromise on Ukraine’s
territorial integrity – the UN Charter’s prohibition on territorial
conquest by force is not negotiable.
- We will never
recognize any occupation of Ukraine’s territory by Russia, neither de
jure, nor de facto. We will seek that our nations, the EU and the wider
international community have a comprehensive non-recognition policy for
the temporary occupation of Ukraine’s territory, and that active
diplomatic measures to help Ukraine to regain control over its territory
will be undertaken.
- To put an end
to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and to achieve just and
lasting peace, Ukraine must be in the strongest possible position both at
the military field and at the negotiating table. Our parliaments and
governments are obliged to provide Ukraine with the military capabilities
necessary to impose unacceptable costs on Russian aggression and to
demonstrate that territorial conquest cannot succeed. It is our strategic
imperative and moral duty to step up our support to ensure this. Delay in
providing Ukraine with adequate military means prolongs the war, increases
casualties, and emboldens aggressor globally.
- We call on all
our Allies and other democratic nations of the World to step up their
military support to Ukraine, notably through their financial contributions
to the implementation of the PURL initiative, and with urgent
prioritization of deliveries of air defence. We urge the lifting of all
restrictions on Ukraine’s use of provided weapons systems against
legitimate targets on Russian territory, as Ukraine has the inherent right
under international law to defend itself against attacks originating from
Russian soil.
- We acknowledge
the very important work of the Coalition of the Willing, including when it
comes to providing Ukraine with the robust security guarantees, backed by
the United States, that should deter any aggression by Russia in the
future. Security guarantees must be concrete, enforceable, and backed by
credible military presence and rapid-response mechanisms.
- We recognise
that Russia’s war economy is sustained by continued energy exports,
military-industrial cooperation with autocratic regimes, and access to
Western dual-use technologies through third countries. We commit to
closing these loopholes through coordinated action: full embargo on
Russian energy imports, comprehensive secondary sanctions on entities
facilitating Russia’s military production in China, Iran, and elsewhere,
and export controls preventing circumvention of technology
restrictions.
- We view
Ukraine’s membership in NATO and the EU among such guarantees and will
spare no efforts to ensure that Ukraine joins them at the earliest
opportunity. Ukraine’s membership in NATO and the EU is also vital for
European and Trans-Atlantic security, it is a strategic and long-term
investment to peace and security on the European continent and beyond it.
A clear and irreversible pathway to NATO membership is essential for
sustainable deterrence.
- We also welcome
the reference at the “20 points plan” to Ukraine joining the EU already in
2027. It is in both Ukraine’s and EU’s essential interests that Ukraine
becomes a full member of the EU as soon as possible. It is therefore our
firm conviction that Ukraine must join the EU with the upcoming wave of
the EU enlargement. We urge the EU institutions and EU Member States to
set a target date, by 2030 at the latest, for this to happen. These
agreements shall be accompanied with a clear roadmap, and resources, on
how do we help Ukraine to achieve reforms necessary for this. Efforts to
obstruct Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations shall no longer be tolerated.
Any member state hijacking EU’s essential interests for the sake of its
dealings with the aggressor Russia deserves the application of the Article
7.2 of the EU Treaty. Ukraine should be in a position to officially open
the negotiating clusters without any further delay.
- We acknowledge
and commend Ukraine’s progress on reforms, including rule of law, public
administration, democratic institutions and national minorities, and encourage
Ukraine to continue implementing these reforms at an accelerated pace in
order to meet all the necessary requirements as soon as possible.
- We welcome
joint efforts to support Ukraine’s preparation for EU membership,
including through coordinated assistance, capacity-building, and practical
cooperation that strengthens institutions, accelerates reforms, and
advances Ukraine’s integration into the European Union.
- We condemn in
strongest possible terms Russia’s attacks against Ukraine’s energy and other
critical infrastructure, indiscriminate targeting of residential areas,
damaging and destruction of civilian enterprises in a deliberate attempt
to cause humanitarian catastrophe and wear down Ukraine’s resistance. Such
actions are war crimes and constitute grave breaches of international
humanitarian law. We are coordinating our efforts to ensure that Ukraine
can strongly close at least the western part of its airspace, and that
Ukraine urgently receives material and humanitarian assistance to mitigate
negative consequences.
- We also condemn
the continued complicity of Belarus, Iran, DPRK, China, Cuba and other
countries in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The provision of
weapons, dual-use technologies, ammunition, drones, or sanctions circumvention
assistance directly prolongs the war. We demand that these countries stop
doing this and call on our Parliaments and Governments to step up the
sanctions pressure necessary to achieve that.
- We urge our
European and Trans-Atlantic partners to impose severe economic and
political costs on Russia, including through urgent adoption of new and
comprehensive sanctions against the banking, energy, and military industry
related sectors. Russia must bear consequences for its actions. Sanctions
must be designed not merely to inconvenience Moscow, but to degrade its
capacity to wage war and impose strategic costs that make continued
aggression unsustainable.
- We demand that
Russia immediately returns all the illegally deported Ukrainian children
back to Ukraine. The forced transfer of children constitutes a serious
violation of international law and engages individual criminal
responsibility. We commend every government and non-governmental actor
that facilitate these returns and ensure there is a substantive
international response to these illegal actions by Russia.
- We are united
in our efforts to ensure Russia’s comprehensive accountability in the
context of its aggression against Ukraine and for all violations of
international law. We urge for rapid completion of the procedures that
would allow the start of the work of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of
Aggression against Ukraine. There will be no just and long-lasting peace
in Ukraine without holding accountable those who committed gravest international
crimes and without justice for victims of those crimes.
- We welcome
important results achieved in Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction, and
look forward to the upcoming Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk as an
important opportunity to accelerate Ukraine’s recovery and reinforce
regional resilience. We will seek that our governments take active
participation in this conference and in the wider reconstruction process
in Ukraine.
